Storage battery.



PATENTED JULY 14, 1903.

R.' N. CHAMBERLAIN.

N0 MODEL.

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UNITED STATES Patented July 14, 1903.

' PATENT OFFICE.

RUFU$ N. CHAMBERLAIN, OF DEPEW, NE\V YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE GOULD STORAGEBATTERY COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A COR- PORATION OF \VEST VIRGINIA.

STO RAG E BATTE RY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 733,813, dated uly 14,1903. Applieation filed April 16, 1902. Serial No.-l03,090. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RUFUS; N. CHAMBER useful Improvements in StorageBatteries, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in storage batteries, and has aparticular application to cases where a storage plant is de sired tofurnish current of high potential but comparatively small quantity. Insuch cases the capacity for high-discharge rate of the ordinary storagebattery is of comparatively little advantage, while its inconvenience,weight, and cost are serious disadvantages.

The object of the present invention is to provide storage-battery cellswhich may be assembled in series with a minimum of trouble and will bemore than usually free from liability toinjury by bucklingorshort-circuiting, so that comparatively little care will be needed inkeepinga high-tension plant with a great number of cells ingoodcondition.

In the accompanying drawings,Figure l is a plan View of a plurality ofstorage-battery cells constructed and arranged according to myinvention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section thereof. Fig. 3 is a plan viewof a modified form of the invention.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the jars or cell bodies or containingvessels 1, of glass, hard rubber, or other suitable material, are formedwith central ribs or ridges 1 on the bottoms thereof, dividing the lowerpart of each cell into separate pockets. The electrode-plates arearranged in pairs, the positive plate 2 of one cell being connected toplate 2 of the next cell by a yoke or arched connector 3, so that nodetachable connections are required,

but circuit is completed for each cell by simple insertion of theelectrode-plates therein. Each positive and negative plate is somewhatthinner than the width of the cell, so that when the plates are placedwith their greatest length parallel to the length of the cell, asindicated, room will be left on each side of the plate between the plateand the cellwalls for free circulation of the electrolyte.

or in opposite pockets of the cells are separated at the bottom of thecell by the rib or ridge 1, and at the top of the cell they are heldapart by the attachment through the arched connectors 3 to the plates ofadjacent cells. The electrode-plates 2 2 in each cell are arrangededgewise to each other-that is, edge to edge'but somewhat separated. andwith their greatest lengths in line with one another and parallel withthe length 'of the cell.

The electrolytic resistance of a cell arranged as above described ishigher than with the usual interlocking plates; but, as above stated,the present invention is particularly intended for uses where a lowdischarge rate only is required, and in such cases the internalresistance is not of great importance. On the otherhand, the fact thatthe cells are in separate pockets is of advantage, for the reason thatany material falling from either plate will drop into the bottomof thecorresponding pocket and, remaining in contact with the said plate, willnot only avoid the risk of short-c'ircuiting encountered under similarcircumstances with the usual form of storage battery, but will actuallycontinue to perform more or less of its normal function, owing to itscontact with the plate. In other words, the particles that fall from theplate and remain in the pocket will still act as parts of electrode andWill be virtually an extension thereof. Another important advantage isthe freedom from buckling obtained by the above-described construction.When cells of a small capacity and each comprising The positive andnegative plates of each cell being at opposite ends a single positiveand a single negative plate are arranged with the flat sides opposed toone another, it is obvious that the adjacent sides of the respectiveplates will be much more subject to the electrolytic action than theremote sides of the said plates. The

more violent expansion and contraction of the internal sides of theplates as compared to the external sides will result in buckling andrapid deterioration of the plates; but by placing the plates edge toedge, as above described, the two sides of each plate are put on exactequality as regards electrolytic action and the tendency to buckling isreduced to a minimum. Both of these advantages are of extreme importancein a planthaving a large number of cells in order to obtain highpotential,and yet of such small current output that the amount ofenergyinvolved, and therefore the amount which can be expended ininspection and oversight, is comparatively small.

In certain cases the idea of placing the opposite electrodes in separatepockets may have advantageous application, even where a cell contains aplurality of plates of each polarity. Thus in Fig. 2 is indicated astorage-cell whose jar 1 is provided with a central rib 1, separatingits lower portion into two pockets or compartments, in which rest thetwo sets of electrode-plates 2 2.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as newtherein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A storage-battery cell comprising a containing vessel having a ribdividing its lower portion into separate pockets, electrodeplates ofopposite polarity arranged in the separate pockets, said pockets beingof a character to catch and retain material dropping from the platestherein separate from the adjacent electrode-plates.

2. A storage-battery cell comprising a containing vesselhavingits lowerportion formed with separate pockets, an electrode-plate in each of saidpockets, the electrode-plate of one pocket being of opposite polarity tothat in an adjacent pocket, and the pockets being of a character tocatch and retain material dropping from the plates therein separate fromthe adjacent electrode-plates.

3. A storage-battery cell comprising a containing vessel having itslower interior portion formed with separate pockets, and projections onopposite side walls, electrodeplates in said pockets arranged edge toedge and supported laterally by said projections, the plate in onepocket of opposite polarity to the plate in the other pocket.

4. A storage-battery comprising a plurality of cells and a plurality ofpairs of electrodes, each pair of electrode-plates of opposite polaritybeing connected by a yoke reaching from cell to cell, and theelectrode-plates in each cell being arranged with their lengths in linewith one another and parallel to the length of the cell.

5. A storage-battery cell comprising a containing vessel havingprojections on each side, and electrode-plates of opposite polarityarranged within said vessel with their lengths in line with one anotherand parallel to the length of the cell, the said plates being confinedbetween the projections on the sides of the cell.

6. A storage-battery comprising a plurality of cells, each cell having arib dividing its bottom portion into pockets and pairs ofelectrode-plates, each pair comprising a positive and negative electrodeconnected by a yoke extending from cell to cell to mechanically andelectrically connect the positive electrode of each cell with thenegative electrode of an adjacent cell.

RUFUS N. CHAMBERLAIN.

Witnesses:

A. H. SNYDER,

A. G. GILPATRICK.

